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(Rock County, WI) – In response to an increasing demand from entrepreneurial and small businesses within the area, Rock County 5.0 has announced a formal partnership with the Janesville Innovation Center (JIC). This partnership, which involves underwriting the costs of expanding the consulting services available from the JIC to prospective early and second stage firms, is aligned with Rock County 5.0’s Small Business & Entrepreneurship strategy area.

By expanding these consulting services (countywide), emerging entrepreneurial interests and existing small businesses will be able to leverage the synergies that JIC tenants are currently enjoying. These services will be provided by Economic Growth Advisors (EGA), LLC - which is in its second year of providing operational management services to the JIC. A licensed business planning, assessment and implementation software tool known as GrowthWheel®, will serve as the primary anchor of the offerings available through EGA. Additionally, EGA will capitalize on its experience by extending its direct, pre-qualified network to address a range of business topics, including but not limited to: business concepts, customer relations, organizational issues, operations, growth stage transitions, financing and exit strategies.

In addition to this current arrangement, collaborative engagements between Rock County 5.0 and the JIC already exist. For example, Rock County 5.0 produced the JIC video and it continues to leverage mutually beneficial activities, programmatic or relationship connections, accordingly. Located at 2949 Venture Drive (Janesville, WI), the JIC is a 22,000 SF business incubator that serves small, early-stage firms that primarily represent the manufacturing, information technology and professional and technical services industry sectors. To date, 7 of the 13 JIC office and manufacturing suites are leased. For more JIC information, visit www.JanesvilleInnovation.com .

Rock County 5.0 is a public / private economic development initiative designed to reposition and revitalize Rock County’s economy. The initiative’s efforts are focused on the following five economic development strategies: Business Retention & Expansion, Business & Investment Attraction, Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Real Estate Positioning and Workforce Profiling. For additional Rock County 5.0 information, visit www.rockcounty5.com .